New Adult Scavenger Hunt

Welcome to New Adult Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was inspired as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize–one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 96 hours! Go to the New Adult Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are TWO contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the TEAM Orange but there is also a TEAM Green and TEAM Purple for a chance to win a whole different set of books! If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the New Adult Scavenger Hunt page.    

                 ***THE SCAVENGER HUNT***

Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my lucky book number. Collect the lucky book numbers of all the authors on TEAM Orange, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!).

Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by October 30th, at noon Eastern Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

LET THE HUNT BEGIN!

***MEET Kaitlin Bevis, AUTHOR OF APHRODITE***

Kaitlin Bevis spent her childhood curled up with a book and a pen. If the ending didn’t agree with her, she rewrote it. Because she’s always wanted to be a writer, she spent high school and college learning everything she could to achieve that goal. After graduating college with a BFA and Masters in English, Kaitlin went on to write The Daughters of Zeus series. If you haven't read the Daughters of Zeus series yet, you can either start with PERSEPHONE, (on sale now for .99 cents) a modern day, young adult retelling of the classic Greek myth, or APHRODITE, a new adult retelling of the epic Greek love story. With over 100 five star reviews on Amazon, you know it's going to be good. For more information, please visit me on my website, Twitter, or Facebook! 

“Aphrodite is such a complex character, and in Kaitlin’s capable hands, I feel like every major character was well developed; the pacing was fast and tight, there were no cliche’s, and the intricate plot threads kept me turning the pages well into the nights. Well done, well done!”

Tonnye Conner

It’s not easy being perfect… But Aphrodite is determined to prove that she’s more than just a pretty face. When she’s asked to investigate strange events occurring on cruise ships, she’s all over it. Little does she guess just how much this mission is going to cost her. The problem—demigods are mysteriously disappearing. Prepared to investigate, Aphrodite manages to charm herself into the best room on the ship. Unfortunately, the room is already taken. It belongs to the one demigod immune to her charm: Adonis. Aphrodite doesn’t know what to make of Adonis. He obviously disapproves of her…yet he saved her life. And he’s hot! Then again, Aphrodite is still reeling from a disastrous—yet incredible—fling with Ares. Gods, these men are going to be the death of her. But then Aphrodite realizes that Adonis could be the next target, and her investigation becomes personal. Only the more she uncovers, the clearer it becomes that she’s in over her head. Confronted with a strange and powerful new opponent, Aphrodite realizes she might not be as immortal as she thought. And Adonis may not be the one who needs saving…. Read the first chapters free! View On: Amazon | Barnes &Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads The second book in the APHRODITE trilogy was just released last week! I won't post the description because it contains spoilers from APHRODITE, but I'm too excited about my cover not to share every chance I get!

“Daughters of Zeus is hands-down my favorite mythological young adult series. It’s very hard not to love these books.” —Rally the Readers Reviews

Read the first chapters free! Buy it today: Amazon

***EXCLUSIVE CONTENT***

Aphrodite starts each book in her trilogy with a mini-myth. Told in her voice, these myths show a lot about how she looks at the world, what she's struggling with in any given novel, explores changes I've made to the established myths in this universe, and acts as a thematic tie in to the novel. I'm including all three below. The third mini-myth from VENUS RISING has not yet been through the final gauntlet of editing with my publisher and may vary greatly from the version that gets published next year. You have been warned.

Pygmalion

From APHRODITE

ONCE UPON A TIME, there was a woman made of stone. She was beautiful and perfect and strong. Blind to her beauty, Pygmalion took a chisel and reshaped her to better fit his own desires. Still, though her flesh softened and her shape altered, she remained strong and unchanged within. Frustrated, the man appealed to the gods. “The women of Cyprus are all unsuited for a man of my station. Breathe life into this stone, and I shall build a great temple in your honor.” “The city of Cyprus is filled with women made of flesh and bone,” the Goddess of Wisdom reasoned. “Perhaps the problem does not lie with them.” Artemis nodded. “Do not blame the prey when you are not worthy of the hunt.” “Never.” Ares’s eyes glittered with disdain. But Pygmalion found a surprising ally in his quest. “Build me a temple that touches the sky, and the woman will be yours,” decreed the God-King. Pygmalion agreed, and when he set the last stone of the temple into place, Zeus breathed life into the statue, hollowing out her insides and removing every trace of who she once was to replace her very essence with what Pygmalion wished her to be. According to the myth, the statue became a perfect wife. Beautiful, dedicated, and obedi­ent to Pygmalion’s every whim. But I know better than anyone that perfection has a price.

Pandora's Box

From LOVE AND WAR

PANDORA WAS the box. The myths always got that part wrong. When the mortals stole fire from the God-King’s domain, Zeus molded the perfect woman out of clay and breathed not a soul into her small frame, but something darker: ingredients to break mankind. “She looks like us,” Ares said in surprise when he set eyes on the first mortal woman. “Mostly.” At the time, the human body held an entire soul, two heads, four arms, and four legs. They were complete beings, but still they felt unsatisfied. The human drive to always do more, have more, be more, left them hungry. Already, humans had stolen the Fire of Knowledge from the gods. Now they longed for ichor and the secrets of immortality. “This is the only way?” Artemis asked, glancing at the woman with unease. “Are you certain?” “I’ve seen every possible outcome of the mortals’ current path,” Apollo replied. “Unchecked, they will destroy us all.” Resolved, all the gods of Olympus contributed toward Pandora’s creation. Athena taught her wisdom, Hephaestus curiosity, Ares passion, and Artemis strength. As her lessons progressed, Pandora’s love for the gods grew. But when Zeus asked her to use her gifts to live among traitorous gods and men alike, she resisted. “You’re asking me to infiltrate, to spy, to destroy,” she protested. “There must be another way. Please, don’t make me do this. Don’t send me to them.” “You were made for this,” the God King decreed. Eventually, Pandora’s love for the gods prevailed. She loved Zeus’s children and knew that if men no longer had need of the gods, the gods would soon die for want of worship. Love makes monsters of us all. The humans regarded Pandora as a curiosity, as she did not resemble them. Little did they know they were looking upon their future. The humans were kind to Pandora. She grew to love their company, but, sensing their destructive nature, she found she could not entirely dismiss Zeus’s plan to divide mankind by using her to introduce men to sickness, cold, and darkness. She broke off pieces of the thing that should have been her soul and sowed them among mankind. But all her attempts to cause division within the human soul were met with failure. They were too complete, too perfect in their formation to bend and break. Instead of turning against each other, their resolve against the gods of Olympus grew. The traitorous gods, on the other hand, were more amenable to distraction. Pandora was too much like the goddesses the brothers had left behind on Olympus to ignore. Epimetheus resisted her charms not at all, Prometheus for little longer. Soon the brothers fell to infighting. Nine months later, the first demigods were born, and chaos swept across the land. Because of their mother’s lack, the children only held half a soul, yet the humans could not help but love them, for the children were everything they’d ever wished for. One single, golden step between the mortal and divine. First one soul, then another, split in half and remade themselves in the semi-divine children’s image. One head, two legs, two arms, and one-half a soul per human body. But the division caused the humans to become weaker instead of stronger. Their worst traits were amplified, their best halved. They spread across the globe, intent on consuming more and ever more. By the time they realized their mistake, they could no longer find their other halves. Her grim mission complete, Pandora returned to her Olympian home, eager to be reunited with her gods. Zeus did not welcome her back to Olympus. “Where am I to go?” she demanded, heartbroken. “Live among men, or throw yourself off this mountain for all I care. You’ve outlived your usefulness.” And so Pandora left. Ares did not take long to find her. “Did you know what would become of us?” he asked, already wearied of his new role as God of War. “When their souls split, your roles expanded to include the dark sides of your gift,” Pandora replied. “Man must always need you if you’ve any hope of surviving. There’s a price to balance.” Ares shook his head, staring down the mountain as if his gaze could pierce the fog and see the battle and bloodshed below. “This is no kind of balance.” “It will be.” Pandora drew Ares to her and whispered the last piece of the thing that should have been her soul into his ear. It was a single word, one that had never before been uttered. “Why me?” he asked, voice hoarse. “You’ll need hope more than anyone.”

Aphrodite

From VENUS RISING

I'M NOT PERFECT. But I was designed to be. Once upon a time, Zeus sculpted me from foam and death into his vision of beauty perfected. He made me into a puppet. A box. A symbol. A thing designed to be perfectly obedient to him in all things. I bent and twisted beneath his onslaught of lightning and thunder, but when the storm died, I remained. Fragile and broken, but still alive. His death released me from his vision of perfection, leaving me free to find my own. That's when I discovered how far from perfect I truly was. I've been called whore, shallow, arrogant, self-centered, annoying, and worse by beings who physically can't lie. They're not wrong. I'm riddled with flaws. I am neither strong nor brave. I cling too tightly, love too freely, and fear that without my beauty, there's nothing left of me. Nothing real. But life goes on, regardless of my uncertainty. As time passed, I had no choice but to learn to stand on my own two legs, shaky as they may be. Here's what I've learned. I'm nobody's statue or posable doll. I am neither a box nor a symbol. Yes, I've been loved by war, struck by lightning, hugged by spring, and mauled by the sea, but I'm more than a victim. I'm greater than my story. I'm real, flaws and all, and that's terrifying. Every day, I become someone else. Someone stronger. Wiser. Better. I'm becoming myself. But that process isn't always pretty.

I hope you enjoyed the exclusive look into VENUS RISING and the bonus content from APHRODITE and LOVE AND WAR.

Before go on to the next blog, take a moment to tell me about a myth or legend from your neck of the woods or somewhere you've been. You'll be entered to win an e-copy of IN HER EYES!

To enter the NASH GIVEAWAY, you need to know that my lucky book number is 10.

Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on TEAM ORANGE and you’ll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

***CONTINUE THE HUNT***

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author,Sophie Lira!